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Great Deals Of Just Kids Patti Smith

I just finished reading Patti Smith's book Just Kids and I loved it so much I just had to share this story.

In 1973, my boyfriend was in the band Eightballs, and every Sunday night they shared the bill with the New York Dolls at the Mercer Arts Center in NYC. I was in college at the time, but I would hop on the bus outside the school gates and take the 2 hour ride into Manhattan, pick up the subway at Port Authority, exit on 4th by the Waverly Theatre, and then walk the 8 blocks or so to the Mercer Arts Center. By then it was nighttime and in the winter it was cold.

The night would open with an unknown poet named Patti Smith. She would sit on the floor playing a toy piano and read her poetry and sometimes sing a little diddy. Her entourage included a woman I thought was her girlfriend. Patti wore all black and had a beatnik vibe about her. She was not friendly towards me or my friend Janet who was the girlfriend of the bass player of Eightballs, (Janet and I are still friends to this day), and quite honestly, we did not extend ourselves towards her. In truth, Patti Smith seemed kind of scary and off limits. After her set, she would take off, and a band from Long Island called Teenage Lust would do their set complete with red boas and black lingerie.

My impression of Patti Smith at the time was that she was a lesbian drug addict. What I found out from reading her book was that not only was she as straight as an arrow in both drugs, drink, and sexuality, the woman I thought was her lover was actually her sister.

Patti Smith's book, Just Kids, is brilliantly written. As she tells her tale of love and life with Robert Mapplethorpe, I am sorry I didn't take the moment to smile and say hello back in the days of the Mercer Arts Center. I was 17 at the time, and more interested in dancing and boyfriends, and college life. I had no idea what was happening in Patti Smith's world which was full of dedication to art and poetry. We really were existing on two completely different planes. However, our paths did cross, and I am grateful I had a glimpse of her journey firsthand. It turns out that we are both from New Jersey (me, north, she south) and come from close knit and supportive families.

Just Kids is truly a love story. A love story where the leading character is art. It is beautifully written and heartfelt. I can still picture Patti Smith so vividly from back then, and after reading her story I feel honored that she opened herself up for all the world to see, hear, and feel. Thank you, Patti.

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